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AOL's Courtesy Call To Congress
by Bara Vaida
AOL Time Warner's new CEO, Richard Parsons, last week conducted a series of courtesy calls with lawmakers, including members of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, House GOP and Democratic leaders and the Congressional Black Caucus.
An AOL spokeswoman said the meetings represented the first for Parsons as CEO and were designed to introduce him to senior lawmakers. She declined to comment on the details of the meetings, but those who attended said Parsons discussed several technology-related issues, including proposals to: change how companies account for the stock options they offer employees; spur the deployment of high-speed Internet services; mandate technology to manage digital rights; and grant the president trade-negotiating authority.
Senate Republicans who met with Parsons included task force Chairman George Allen of Virginia Wayne Allard of Colorado, Christopher (Kit) Bond of Missouri, Susan Collins of Maine, Michael Crapo of Idaho and John Ensign of Nevada.
A Little Advice On Industry And Security
Karan Bhatia has been appointed as the Commerce Department's deputy undersecretary for industry and security and will advise Kenneth Juster, the head of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), on all aspects of the agency's policymaking.
Bhatia will address issues such as enforcing controls on exported products that have both military and commercial applications, promoting the security of critical infrastructure in the public and private sectors, and ensuring the viability of the U.S. defense industrial base. Before joining the Bush administration in July 2001 as chief counsel for the then-Bureau of Export Administration, since renamed BIS, Bhatia was a partner at the law firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering.
In other administration news, Commerce on Thursday will distribute the National Medal of Technology awards for 2001. The winners include: John Ewen, president of Houston-based Catalyst Research; Arun Netravali of Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent Technologies; Sidney Pestka, of the Piscataway, N.J.-based University of Medicine and Dentistry; Jerry Woodall of Yale University, for his work on semiconductor materials; and Dow Chemical for its leadership in the science and technology community.
Familiar Faces In The Tech World
David Krone is rejoining the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) as executive vice president beginning July 1. Krone, who held the same post from October 1999 to January 2000, will succeed Peggy Binzel, who is leaving to become the CEO of CoreNet Global.
Krone currently is the executive vice president of marketing with the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, where he was responsible for the initial branding campaign to launch the regional sports cable and satellite network. Krone has worked in a few capacities for Leo Hindery, a former CEO of Global Crossing and key contributor to Democratic politics.
In other industry news, Dittus Communications has hired Christina Binko as senior director in Dittus' marketing communications practice. Most recently, Binko was a senior marketing manager for VeriSign's registry division, where she worked on branding, marketing, partner programs and business development. Before that, she worked on public-relations campaigns and funding for nonprofit organizations, including the Boys and Girls Club of America.
Mary Snapp has been promoted to vice president of law and corporate affairs at Microsoft. Snapp also will continue to be deputy general counsel for product development and marketing, and will assume significant responsibility for ensuring Microsoft's antitrust compliance.
The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) elected its new board and executive committee for 2002-2003. Tim Donahue of Nextel will be chairman, Scott Ford of Alltel will be vice chairman, Terry Addington of First Cellular of Southern Illinois will be treasurer, and Mikal Thomsen of Western Wireless will be secretary. Two new board members also were named: Robert Dawson of Southern Linc and Mick Mullagh of Telephia.
Bipartisanship Rules The Fundraising Day
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is scheduled to attend a Friday fundraiser at Spago's restaurant in Palo Alto, Calif. The event will be hosted by: TechNet; Emily's List; Adobe Systems co-chairman Chuck Geschke; Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers partners John Doerr and Brook Byers; McKenna Group Chairman Regis McKenna; and eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who was one of several CEOs to publicly support George Bush during his 2000 presidential campaign.
TechNet also is hosting an evening reception next Monday in Menlo Park, Calif., for California state lawmakers. The other hosts include Floyd Kvamme, co-chairman of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, who also is listed as a host of a lunch this Wednesday to honor Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon. Kvamme's co-hosts at that San Francisco event are expected to include first lady Laura Bush and former Secretary of State George Shultz.
On July 1, TechNet is hosting a breakfast for Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., in Orange County. Cox has been a key advocate of a moratorium on Internet taxes and supported efforts by the tech industry to halt accounting reforms that the industry opposed.
Tech Talk In Washington
Last week, Rep. Jay Inslee, a Democrat from Washington who represents the district that houses Microsoft's headquarters, attended a meet-and-greet lunch hosted by the Washington, D.C.-area industry lobbying group CapNet. Much of the lunch, held at La Colline near Capitol Hill, centered on intellectual property and technology to manage digital rights.
According to those who attended, Inslee asked the tech community to discuss their concerns with him. Industry representatives from Accenture, Amazon.com, Dittus Communications, EDS, Expedia, Gateway, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and the Software Productivity Consortium attended the discussion. Other top issues of discussion included stock options, trade-negotiating authority and airline security.
Last month, CapNet also hosted a bus tour of northern Virginia companies for House GOP staff members, including those from the offices of David Dreier and Doug Ose of California, Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, Michael Oxley of Ohio, Clay Shaw of Florida, Gerald Weller of Illinois, and others. They visited offices of AOL Time Warner, Nortel Networks Kidz Online and Oracle.
On the speaking circuit next Thursday, Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy will be in Washington for a Business Roundtable meeting and to give a keynote speech at the Northern Virginia Technology Council's "Titans of Technology" breakfast series. Sponsors of the breakfast include law firms like Hogan & Hartson, Morrison & Foerster, O'Melveny & Myers, Patton Boggs and Vinson & Elkins, as well as by Korn/Ferry International and Veritas Software. A spokesman declined to comment on the topic of McNealy's speech.
Internet Officials Win Awards
Stephen Crocker, chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' Security and Stability Advisory Committee, will be given the 2002 Internet award of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The award will recognize Crocker, the CEO of Shinkuro, for his leadership in the creation of key Internet protocols.
U.S. Internet Industry Association President Dave McClure has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People in Real Estate and Technology" by Broadband Properties magazine, which serves the technology and broadband industries. McClure and USIIA will "have a profound effect on this market now and for years to come," the magazine said.
Correction
Due to incorrect information given by a Commerce official, the full name of Nuala O'Connor Kelly was not provided in the June 4 "People Column." She also was referred to as general counsel to the Technology Administration, but she is the chief counsel.
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